Nov. 12, 2007

Fordham Head Coach Dereck Whittenburg Quotes:

On Central Missouri
"[They're] a team that wins 31 games and has a great coach; the only thing that's Division II about them is their school is Division II, their program is not Division II. I wanted to make sure I got that across to my kids, because I knew they were going to fight, I knew they would be good competitors, and they gave us a good game. I give them a lot of credit, I never disrespected that team, because today; Division II, or Division I, everyone can play and you've got to be ready to play."

On the play of Stout, Dunston and the Fordham Team
"They're seniors, they're veterans, and they're going to be there in the clutch. They came through for us. Mike Moore, the freshman really came through for us in the first half, he really gave us a lift. Everybody really contributed and that's what I like about this team, we play a lot of guys and I like the way the way they're playing right now."

On playing Missouri/Central Michigan
"The hardest thing about [Central Missouri] was that we didn't know much about them, of course I know Mike Anderson well, I know both of the coaches, and they do a fine job, we're just going to have to wait and see, we don't know a whole lot about each one of them, but we get a chance to see them play and we'll see what happens, we're just happy to advance and we'll get ready for the next game."

Central Missouri Head Coach Kim Anderson Quotes:

Opening Statement on Central Missouri's overall play
"I thought the first have our guys played like they were ten new guys and it was the first time that they had ever been together... We had trouble scoring, we had trouble guarding, but then I thought the second half things settled down, our defensive intensity got better. I really was pleased with that. Offensively we still struggled, but we got the ball to the basket... For the most part in the second half we really took a step forward which in these games that's kind of what I was looking to do, to try to get better as time goes on."

On Kevin Wollbrinck
"He really is a warrior. He's an undersize guy that we've made into a power forward. We've done that because he's worked extremely hard in the off-season on his strength and we felt that was where he could help us the most and he really has embraced it and has done a good job of playing. He just plays so hard. He really is a tenacious guy around the basketball."

On Central Missouri's rebounding efforts
"I was a little disappointed, but we really were kind of undersized a bit, undermuscled. You have ten new guys, it's really hard to get them to understand the level of intensity they have to play at all the time. They play like that for awhile but they kind of revert back to their old days and then all of a sudden they play hard again. When you're playing a team like Fordham they have some big strong guys, you've got to play hard every time. I thought we battled, but we just couldn't get some of the rebounds."